What is missing this one is the number of visitors to Qiushui Square in the past three days. Xu Chen held up a piece of paper and said to everyone present.

When everyone heard this, they all picked up the paper with a small number of words and looked at it, only to see that it was written:

"More than 15,000 people arrived on the evening of October 19. ”

"On October 20, in addition to the thousands of people present, more than 10,000 people were present. ”

"On October 21, more than 18,000 people showed up during the day and thousands more at night. ”

"Nearly 30,000 people attended the event on October 22. ”

After reading it, the businessmen present all showed shocked expressions, they really did not expect that this small square could attract so many tourists. As the top businessmen in Yuzhang City, they are naturally well-informed, if it is just a grand event to attract so many people, it is not surprising, but this square can attract nearly 20,000 people on average every day, you must know that the people of the entire Yuzhang City are only more than 100,000!

After realizing the extraordinaryness of this square, some businessmen with a keen sense of smell had begun to understand Xu Chen's intentions a little bit today.

And Xu Chen didn't mean to let them guess, and after seeing that everyone was a little clear, he immediately continued: "The things recorded on the other pieces of paper are a little trivial, all of which are the prices of the goods sold by the vendors who have set up stalls in the square in the past few days and their profits. ”

At this moment, most of the businessmen present had begun to understand what Xu Chen wanted to express, but when they picked up the remaining paper and looked at it, they still couldn't help but gasp.

"What? A bowl of ordinary clear soup noodles costs ten cents, which is four times more expensive than in the city!" exclaimed a middle-aged man with a fat body.

"Fat Wang, you're a fart!" This burden-carrying merchant dares to sell a box of ordinary rouge for 500 Wen! Lao Tzu's 'Yunmeng Pavilion' doesn't dare to sell the fine Suzhou 'red smoke' at this price!" A fine man in red Shu brocade said angrily while patting the table.

Then, almost everyone present let out a voice of surprise and even a little anger, and the scene seemed a little chaotic for a while as they excitedly recounted the paper in their hands.

And Xu Chen, the initiator of this qiē, was sitting quietly drinking tea at the moment, and from time to time he observed several equally calm businessmen opposite from the corner of his eye.

Most of these businessmen were old, and while they were carefully looking at the number in their hands, they were also secretly observing Xu Chen.

Seeing this, Xu Chen smiled knowingly, then put down the teacup in his hand and stood up, clasped his fists and saluted everyone: "In the next few days, my stomach is not good, I just drank two sips of wine, and my stomach turned over the river and the sea. ”

When everyone saw this, they naturally would not have objections, the other party wanted to urinate and escape, and they also needed some time to digest the information just now, right?

After Xu Chen left, the merchants present suddenly quieted down, and looked at a sixty-year-old man on the first seat on the left.

The old man was still looking at the papers carefully with his head down, and when everyone saw this, they all waited quietly without making a sound.

After the tea, the merchants under the seat began to be a little anxious, so they hurriedly gave a middle-aged man on the right hand side of the old man a crazy look, the middle-aged man understood, thinking that Xu Chen would come back without knowing when, and the time was pressing, so he interrupted the old man's contemplation and said, "Old Mei, what do you mean by this kid surnamed Xu?"

The old man, known as Mei Lao, still looked at the number on the paper quietly after hearing this, as if he had not heard the middle-aged man's inquiry.

Finally, when the old man surnamed Mei finished reading the last line, he raised his head unhurriedly, opened his lips, and said calmly: "Are you all stumped?"

"You've been doing business for so many years, haven't you used this kind of fishing with a line?"

When everyone heard this, they laughed and laughed.

"Then what does he mean?" the middle-aged man still asked.

"No matter what he means, we won't get any news today!" said Mei Lao after a moment of silence.

"What?" everyone present said in surprise when they heard this, "Is it difficult to ......"

Before this person's words were finished, the shopkeeper of Qiushui Pavilion walked in and said to everyone: "Forgive me, distinguished guests! The owner has already gone to the doctor for medical treatment when he is unwell, so let the villain come to apologize to the distinguished guests, and I hope you Haihan for the neglect!"

Seeing that Mei Lao's prophecy really came true, everyone couldn't help but admire it in their hearts, and naturally they didn't really bother with Xu Chen, and after saying a few polite words, they left Qiushui Pavilion under the leadership of Mei Lao, and those papers that recorded the number of jù were naturally brought back by them.

"Who is that old man?" In another private room on the second floor of Qiushui Pavilion, Xu Chen, who was "unwell", asked Lu Hao.

"The housekeeper of Mei Yun, a wealthy family in the city, this Mei Yun is a former scholar, more than ten years ago, he tried repeatedly, so he gave up writing and started business, and he has accumulated tens of thousands of family fortunes for more than ten years, and now he is one of the richest households in Yuzhang City. ”

"Mei Yun's business is very miscellaneous, he does everything, grain, cloth, rouge gouache, and even salt and iron, which is the monopoly of the imperial court, and their family also has a share. Lu Hao recalled the information he had collected and said.

"Then who is his backer?" Xu Chen then asked.

"I don't know! This person is usually very low-key, except for business dealings, he rarely appears in public, and ordinary things are taken care of by his housekeeper, this old man surnamed Mei. Lu Hao replied.

Xu Chen thought for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile, and said: "The old mistake has been made again! No matter what backing this person has, it doesn't matter!

"Then when will we start bidding?" Lu Hao also smiled, and then asked again.

"Let's let them dry for a few days!

Lu Hao nodded when he heard this.

After Xu Chen's banquet this time, most of the businessmen attending the meeting were a little uneasy after returning home, and some even went to the square outside the city to "play" on the same day.

It's just that these people who go to play seem to be a little unusually low-key, not only abandoning the exquisite and gorgeous ox cart and walking forward, but even changing the satin clothes on their bodies into linen clothes, and after coming to the square, they also pick the place where there are few people, and when they talk to the hawkers, they also bow their heads, deliberately change their tones, and look mysterious.

A few days later, these merchants who went to Xu Chen's banquet that day couldn't bear it anymore, and they all came to Mei Yun's mansion.

"Fat Wang, the day before yesterday, I seemed to see a fat man pulling a noodle vendor in the square outside the city to ask questions, that fat man looks so familiar!"

When the middle-aged man surnamed Wang heard this, his white and fat face couldn't help but turn red, and then he shouted angrily at the lean man: "Yesterday I also saw a skinny man like a leather monkey blocking other people's merchants from leaving, and he was almost beaten! It's really funny! How can you say that such a thin person dares to be so arrogant?"

"Dead fatty, who are you talking about?" the lean man immediately jumped up and scolded.

"Whoever is in a hurry, I am talking about whom!" said the middle-aged man surnamed Wang at this moment.

"You!" The thin man saw the appearance of the fat man, and immediately became angry.

"Okay! Don't make a fuss! Mei Dadong's family is already here!" The middle-aged man who was sitting next to Mei Lao that day walked in at this moment and persuaded him.

As soon as the two heard that Mei Yun was coming, they quickly stopped arguing and sat quietly in their positions.

A moment later, a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties walked in, dressed in a blue Confucian shirt, his hair was tied in a bun with a verdant hairpin, and a few silver threads were sandwiched between his three-foot-long beards, and he did not look like a merchant with the air of a philistine.

"Thank you for coming to the Humble House, Mei Yun is rude!" The middle-aged man clasped his fists and saluted everyone, his movements were gentle, without a trace of fireworks.

"Mei Dongjia is polite! We are here this time to inquire about something, and it is also appropriate to wait for a while. The middle-aged man who came to report just now said on behalf of everyone at this moment, and everyone did not have the slightest objection, which shows that the status of this middle-aged man is not low among everyone.

"Brother Ou Xian's words are serious! You are all Mei's guests, so it doesn't hurt to say anything. Mei Yun nodded slightly at the middle-aged man surnamed Ou and said.

"That's the case, we all went to Qiushui Pavilion for Xu Chen's banquet a few days ago, I don't know if the Mei Dong family knows about this?" said the middle-aged man surnamed Ou.

Mei Yun recalled for a moment, and then said: "There is indeed such a thing, he sent the invitation to Mei's mansion at the beginning, but Mei went out a few days ago, so he asked the housekeeper to go on my behalf, what's wrong?"

The old slave was about to report this matter to you, but the old man had just returned home today, and the journey was tiring, so the old slave took it upon himself to think that he would report to you later. Seeing this, Mei Lao, who was standing on the side, said.

"It's okay, it's the same now. Mei Yun said calmly.

"That's right, that Xu Chen invited us to the banquet this time, and the old slave guessed that he should want to do business with us. Mei Lao then said.

"Oh, what business?" asked Mei Yun.

He didn't say anything, but he did give us some numbers about the square outside the city. After Mei Lao finished speaking, he took out the pieces of paper he brought back that day from his sleeve and handed them to Mei Yun.

After Mei Yun took it, he lowered his head and looked carefully.

After a while, Mei Yun raised his head and said to everyone, "Is this thing real?"

"It's true!" replied the middle-aged man surnamed Ou affirmatively.

"Yes, Mei Dongjia, to tell you the truth, we have all been there in the past few days, and there are indeed so many tourists in the square outside the city!" added the middle-aged man surnamed Wang.

"What's more! In the past few days, there have been more tourists going there! Many tourists from other places have also come here! Those vendors who set up stalls have made enough money these days to spend a lifetime!" said the elite man.

Mei Yun was silent for a moment, and then said loudly: "How many of these lands by the river are not in the hands of this Xu Chen now?"